That Vizhinjam was a trading port in the medieval period is no news. But recent archeological excavations by the KU Department of Archaeology points to an antiquity of the port to a period that is much earlier, probably as early as between second century BC and second century AD.
The artifacts discovered from excavations during the 2012-13 period, indicate that trade extended from West Asia to Eastern region of peninsular India and beyond to far east Asia.
The highlight of the season’s work was the discovery of indisputable sherds of rouletted ware, sherds of amphora, BI glazed ware and even sherds of Torpedo jars, which clearly have their origin in West Asia.
‘’We also got a lot of iron slag, which is a waste product of iron-smithing. We also found laterite blocks with high iron content and thick crucibles that are used in iron-smithing, which indicate that Vizhinjam could have been a prominent iron working site,’’ said Archeology Department head Ajit Kumar, who led the excavations.
The other members of the archeology team included S V Rajesh, V Vinod and Abhayan G S.
The discovery of the iron objects also gives life to the story of the Chief Arms Maker of the Ay chieftains, who was supposedly stationed at Vizhinjam. Many of the iron items made here were said to be of high demand within the country and abroad. According to lore, the officer-in-charge of the arsenal was named Sri Vallabha Perumpanaikkan. ‘’The iron slag and crucibles recovered seem to reiterate the literary and epigraphic records,’’ said Ajithkumar.
Another interesting find was the broken leg portion of a small bronze figurine, that was made using the lost wax casting, a process prevalent in the eighth and ninth centuries.
The hollow leg portion even had a broken anklet on it. ‘’This is a clear evidence that this lost wax technique was prevalent here too,’’ said Ajithkumar.
Another recovery throwing light on the religious history of the region was a Shiva Linga, dating back to eighth century, that was found from the Mathilppuram area.
This, along with the presence of Shiva temples along the region, shows a Shaivite character of the ancient township.
‘’Many of the early historic ports along Kerala cost mentioned in Greco-Roman literature are lost or have become defunct. Only Vizhinjam can boast of being a living port with a continuous maritime history spanning over 2000 years of international trade,’’ said Ajithkumar.